Distractions
by Shari Maxwell
Summary: Duo invites himself to bunk with Heero while they work together on a mission, and Heero finds it hard to focus with Duo around. Yaoi, HeeroDuo


The whole ritual had started one night when they had ended up paired together for a mission. It hadn't been planned initially by the Doctors, but somehow they had bumped into each other having the same intentions for the unsuspecting OZ base.

Duo had instantly insisted they stay together even though the area Heero had chosen to stay in was only made for one person. That's how Duo had ended up sleeping on a tiny futon on the floor beside Heero's bed. Heero had made it clear to Duo that they were not _sharing _a bed after what happened the last time they did.

Duo honestly didn't remember doing any of what Heero claimed he had that night, but Duo had also learned that once Heero told him no there were no arguments. (In reality Duo tried hard, but was never able to succeed in convincing the guy otherwise.)

"Heero?"

He heard his name being called, but chose to ignore Duo by continuing to research the base they were going to infiltrate.

"Heero?"

Again Duo called out his name, but Heero continued to ignore the other pilot.

"Will you stop typing on the stupid laptop, and listen to me?" Duo got up from the futon and walked over the desk Heero was sitting at. He lingered over Heero's shoulder until finally Heero stopped and looked up at him. "Finally!"

Heero began to go back to his typing when Duo stopped him once again by slamming the laptop shut.

"Just listen to me! All I want is one little favor." Duo snatched the laptop from the desktop and then went over to the futon. "Just sit by me while I try to sleep, you can type over here while I go to sleep."

"Why do I have to sit by you?" Heero asked as he stood up and sat on the floor next to the futon. Duo handed the laptop over and immediately Heero opened it up and began again with his furious typing. "You're a pilot just like me, and you're used to sleeping alone."

Duo began to turn red which allowed the other pilot to know he was embarrassed about it. "I just like the company when I can have it. Is it so wrong to want human contact?"

Silence was Heero's answer so Duo gave up and lay on his side. Almost immediately he fell asleep, which made Heero wonder why Duo had even bothered asking him to sit there. He observed the sleeping teen and found himself wondering why Duo never bothered to anything but an over-sized shirt to sleep in. That thought then led to his eyes wandering over Duo's thin body, and stopped at the edge of the shirt.

He wanted to look away, knowing exactly what Duo would think if he woke up, but couldn't bring himself to do it. His body seemed to be doing whatever it wanted to as he saw his hand reach out and lightly rest on Duo's thigh. Without warning he felt his face get hot and hastily pulled his hand away.

Forgetting about the laptop balancing on his legs, Heero ended up making it crash to the ground as he jumped up. Knowing the laptop was durable and would survive the fall, Heero did something Duo had always thought was impossible. He left the computer where it was to make his way to the bathroom.

Duo appeared in the doorway holding the abandoned technology, "Why'd you drop your laptop?"

"It was an accident, I forgot I had it." Heero couldn't think of any lie that would make sense as to why he was now washing his hands, but luckily Duo didn't ask. He disappeared from the doorway and Heero heard him set the computer on the desk.

That was how the first encounter went.

The next morning Duo was sitting on the bed, just talking to Heero and not caring if nobody was listening. He sat there using his hands to help tell his story even though Heero was trying hard to ignore him. Duo seemed to have noticed Heero's unusual behavior this morning, but didn't confront the pilot about it.

"Heero, don't you ever do anything besides mission specs on that computer? I _know_ you've got to have gotten curious one night and-" Duo was cut off as Heero stood up quickly. He grabbed his laptop and walked out of the room without saying a word to Duo or even looking at him.

He didn't hear anything more from Duo the rest of the day, which made the atmosphere tense and uncomfortable. Once Heero was finally satisfied with his work, he found that it was still only mid-afternoon and they had a lot of time to kill before tonight's mission. Heero went back into the tiny bedroom and found Duo asleep on his bed.

Duo was sprawled out on the bed, leaving only a little space for Heero to sit down. He couldn't honestly explain his actions just then, because once again his body was functioning against the will of his mind. His hand rested upon the same spot as last night, but then decided to wander a bit more this time.

The clothing Duo was wearing was a soft material, not his usual black leather outfit. Heero's fingers traced the curve of Duo's body from his thigh up to his arched back, which he seemed to arch more as Heero continued moving his hand. Heero stopped then, once again his face was hot and he went to the bathroom.

He couldn't figure why it was that he felt the need to wash his hands after that, and he tried to convince himself he didn't need to. There was something that forced him to anyway, but it wasn't because he felt dirty… No, he didn't feel worthy of keeping the memory of that touch.

Their little safe haven was nothing more than a bedroom, a kitchenette, and a small living room, but Heero managed to make sure he was as far away from the bedroom as possible. He had made some food, the instant kind, but he never had a problem eating it.

Duo woke up a couple hours later, and wandered out of the bedroom. He was groggy and disoriented, but the aroma of food guided him to the kitchen. He grabbed a bowl and filled it to the rim with noodles, and plopped down onto the couch next to Heero.

"We need to buy some real food sometime, this ramen shit is gross." Duo consumed all the contents of the bowl despite his statement, and then set it aside. "What've you been doing all day? Just more mission stuff? I figured you'd get bored _eventually_, but I guess not."

The Deathscythe pilot was completely at ease while talking to Heero with his arms crossed behind his head and feet propped up on the short table. Heero had noticed it before, but now he was trying to remember a time when Duo wasn't so comfortable around him.

Even after Duo rescued Heero from the hospital the second time they met, Duo didn't seem to be as cautious as he should've been. Now he was just staring at the ceiling and most likely daydreaming. Heero took his chance to get up and leave the room, knowing that the only place he really could go is to the bedroom.

Out of the corner of his eye, Heero watched amethyst eyes curiously follow him out of the room. Yet he stayed planted on the couch until Heero had completely escaped from his sight. After another minute or so, Heero heard music playing from their cheap radio. Some new song that Duo seemed to like, but as Heero listened to him sing the lyrics he found the song to be depressing even though it had upbeat music.

It was something about two lovers betraying each other, and one ends up shooting the other during a fight. Heero didn't understand the usually optimistic pilot would listen to such music, but then again Duo wasn't an ordinary person. He pretended to always be looking for the silver-lining, but inside Duo's the same as any other person in the middle of a war.

Trying to mask the desperation with a grin, all the while just desiring peace to show up and stay. But being pilots both Heero and Duo knew well enough peace didn't just happen. You always have to work to achieve happiness, especially the happiness of not only yourself but millions of people.

Without realizing it Heero had wandered back out into the living room, and found himself watching Duo. He was still sitting on the couch with his head back and eyes closed. It looked like Duo was either thoroughly enjoying the song or else he was deep in thought, and Heero already knew which it was.

The last time Duo had heard a song he liked on the radio he had jumped up and began singing as loud as possible. He had even tried to grab Heero and make him dance around with him. It was always like that with Duo, but these were the moments Heero was never able to see.

Duo opened his eyes when he finally noticed Heero's presence in the room, "What's up Heero? Is this one of your favorite songs too?"

Once again, Duo had tried to cover up any traces of that split second where his guard was completely down.

"Why do we have to be so far apart?" Heero hadn't really intended to say it out loud, but Duo seemed to misinterpret it.

"What do you mean? Look at this shitty little place! We're never _that_ far apart." Duo had laughed at Heero's question, but stopped when he saw Heero's close his eyes in frustration. "Are you sure you're alright? If you feel under the weather I'll take care of that mission."

"I'm not ill, Duo." Heero glared at the other pilot coldly as he turned away. "There is no room for sickness for people like us."

Duo sighed and stood up, "I suppose you're right. We won't have time for our own happiness until we stop OZ. But I can't help it sometimes; don't you ever wish we were normal teenagers?"

Heero didn't respond to Duo's question, because he had thought about the subject many times before. He tried not to let his thoughts get carried away, as he wasn't even sure how an ordinary civilian lived.

"I mean... it's hard to really enjoy life when you know there are millions of lives resting on your shoulders. But I don't have room to complain! I've got everything I could want in my life." Duo grinned, "I've got my Deathscythe and I've got an awesome comrade now. So that's enough for me for now."

"For now?" Heero hadn't really wanted to provoke Duo into a longer conversation, but it had slipped out.

"Well, in the future I want more... A place I can call home and never be afraid of it being destroyed, maybe a dog, and maybe someone I can spend the rest of my life with. _If_ I survive the war. I shouldn't get to far ahead of myself."

Duo was about to leave his bowl on the table, but then remembered to snatch it up and put it in the kitchen sink. He left it there and then went towards the bathroom, "I'm gonna shower really quick."

There was no response from Heero, so Duo took that as an indication to go ahead.

Now the silence was unbearable, the only real sound was the shower running in the bathroom. No matter what the stoic pilot did to try and convince himself he didn't need to hear Duo's voice; there was nothing he could do. He tried to review the mission again in his mind, but it once again led to him thinking about Duo.

This lead to a chain reaction of him remembering the last two instances where Heero was there when Duo was asleep and once again gave him the urge to wash his hands. Automatically he burst into the bathroom, his mind too worried about cleansing his hands that it forgot that Duo was in there.

"What the hell Heero?! Can't I get _one_ second of privacy?" Duo's tone wasn't what Heero was used to and Heero knew that was what he really desired at that moment.

"Why are you suddenly asking for privacy when you're the one always making a point to follow _me_?" Heero defended himself, "_You_ were the one who wanted human contact last night, and you're never embarrassed of wearing nothing but that damn shirt to bed!"

Duo didn't seem angry; instead he seemed like a trapped animal. "At least I was wearing something then! Will you just give me a damn towel?"

It hadn't occurred to him that Duo was standing in front of him completely naked, but now that he realized it he had to struggle not to show anything on his face. Heero snatched a towel and threw it at Duo, then proceeded to get out of the bathroom hastily.

He was in the bedroom once again when Duo came in, fully dressed and his hair still dripping wet. He sat down on the futon while Heero was sitting at the desk, just trying to avoid looking at his partner in the upcoming mission.

"Listen Heero, I didn't mean to act that way... I just hate when I'm vulnerable like that, I'm sure you could understand." Duo stood up and put a hand on Heero's shoulder, "Let's just forget it, alright?"

"Fine."

----

Their mission was different from most of them; this one was strictly a stealth mission to find out what OZ's next move would be. In truth it only required one of them to carry out the mission successfully, but Duo had insisted on going with Heero.

Everything had gone smoothly so far as they had yet to be discovered as imposters in their stolen uniforms. Heero had left hacking into the database up to Duo and was keeping watch of the door in case more soldiers came.

"Shit! Heero this was just a trap!" Duo had found the file they were looking for, and knew from the moment he saw it that it was fake. By that time it was already too late and the bomb that had been hidden went off.

Heero threw himself to the floor in order to avoid most of the shrapnel that went flying, but Duo wasn't as lucky. He wasn't fatally injured, but he was still hurt to the point he knew he wouldn't be able to walk.

Knowing he wasn't injured at all, Heero quickly got up to start shooting at the soldiers coming. He had no doubt in his mind Duo was severely injured, but he just hoped the pilot hadn't died. After a while there was a break in the soldiers and Heero took the time to check on his partner.

"Heero, you've got an opening just leave me and get out of here."

"No."

"What do you mean no?! I'm dead weight Heero! Neither of us will escape if you try to carry me out of here!"

There was no answer, but Heero picked up Duo anyway. "Sometimes even we have to put our own desires before that of the colonies Duo."

Heero managed to throw Duo over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and kept one arm wrapped around his partner's waist while the other continued clearing their path of soldiers. They didn't get far before they began to have some trouble, but Heero refused to leave Duo behind.

After much fighting and being wounded several times, Heero got them both out of the base and to the safety of the surrounding forest. He placed Duo on the ground up against a tree; apparently Duo wasn't able to handle the degree of pain and had fainted. That had been the only reason that Duo hadn't resisted Heero's help.

Stripping off the OZ uniform shirt, Heero used it to apply pressure to the gash in Duo's leg. It was bleeding profusely but after a few minutes of constant pressure from Heero, it began to stop and Heero used another torn strip of the shirt as a temporary bandage.

Attending to all of Duo's wounds was his first priority, and once he had finished Heero picked him up and began to carry him back to their hide-out. Knowing that Duo had been right the whole time, he should've left him there. But something had stopped him from doing it.

----

When they arrived to safety, Heero stripped Duo of the uniform and began to properly disinfect the injuries and bandage them. He found that Duo had broken one bone which Heero set while he was still asleep, but other than the one serious cut Duo was pretty much fine. This was the sort of miracle that Heero had forgotten could happen, and it made him realize he still couldn't why he's been acting so strange.

To Heero his life had always just been mission after mission, and it had kept him isolated from people. Now that he was constantly around Duo he could recognize he was content with his company. That was why he knew he had to distance himself from Duo Maxwell.

Duo stirred and attempted to sit up, but cringed and stopped. "Heero? What happened?"

"You were injured, but we managed to escape." Heero informed the pilot now standing. The whole time he'd been sitting on the edge of the bed at Duo's feet, but now he walked towards the door. "You shouldn't move for a while or else you'll just be in worse pain."

"I can't believe you jeopardized the mission for me again!" Duo's outburst caught Heero off-guard and he turned around to be punched directly in the face by Duo. "I don't always need you to save me! I'm sick of being the burden to everyone else!"

Heero dodged the next attack and backed into the living room, "You only would've been even more of a burden had I left you there alive!"

Duo's leg finally couldn't take anymore and forced him to fall to the floor. Heero watched him as the pilot tried to get up, but when Heero attempted to help him Duo just glared at him. He hated watching the sight of Duo struggling so desperately to prove his point, but there was nothing he could do.

After what felt like an eternity of just watching Duo force his legs to stretch their limit, the Deathscythe pilot finally stood up. He used the wall as a brace to go back into the bedroom, and he collapsed on top of the futon. He ended up throwing up a few minutes later, but he still smirked at Heero to show he was proud of his accomplishment.

Heero hated how he didn't know what to say.

"I am _not_ the weak one Heero, so stop treating me like I am. Not everybody is perfect like you."

Heero didn't say a word to Duo as he grabbed a towel and cleaned up the mess, and then threw the towel away. He then offered Duo a glass of water, and Duo accepted it.

"I don't think of you as weak Duo, but we can only push ourselves so far, I wish you'd learn that." Heero didn't look at Duo as he turned off the light and sat on the bed. "I'll only kill you if you want to die. I won't leave you so someone else can kill you."

He glanced down at Duo and saw Duo staring at the floor. It began to bother him how Duo continued to avoid his eyes, and finally he reached out and grabbed Duo by the chin.

"Why won't you look at me?"

"Because you say thing like that with a straight face! That's the kind of thing you would say to your girlfriend!" Duo continued to avert his eyes from looking fully into Heero's. "I would expect you to say something like that to Relena, not me."

"I don't want to say things like that to Relena." Heero didn't understand why he suddenly didn't feel the need to wash his hands like he did every time he touched Duo. Perhaps he'd always felt that urge because he'd regretted it before? But why wouldn't he now?

Duo gently pulled Heero's hand away, "You can't tell me you're not in love with her... She's Relena _Peacecraft_, going to be one of the most important people of the future! And there's always been times where I was helpless to save you, but when she would call out your name you would respond. Like the time you tried to kill yourself when I rescued you from the hospital, if it weren't for her you would be dead-"

Heero shut Duo up by standing up and picking Duo up off the futon, and then putting the startled pilot on the bed. Even knowing it was a selfish thing to do considering Duo was still injured and the bed was only made for one person, Heero forced Duo to share the bed with him.

"What are you doing?!" Duo's face was flushed a deep red as he managed to scoot all the way against the wall.

But Heero didn't say anything, he just pulled Duo closer to him and kept the unwilling teen there. "Just be grateful, after tonight you're going back to sleeping on the floor."

----

The next morning Heero woke up to find his limbs tangled up with Duo's, and he didn't know how it was possible they'd slept in such uncomfortable positions. Without waking Duo, he managed to slip out of the bed and into the living room. Making sure to shut the door silently, Heero then turned on the radio to find Duo's favorite song playing once again.

After listening to the rest of the song, Heero changed the radio to a news station. They were talking about how an OZ base had been attacked last night by two intruders who were currently in their custody.

"Figures they'd lie to the public to sound like they're still in control." Duo limped into the room and immediately went to the kitchen, pulling two packages of instant noodles from the cupboard. He went about making the food in his usual manner, which meant he ended up dirtying way more dishes than necessary and leaving it all sitting around the tiny little kitchenette.

Duo handed Heero a bowl and then carefully sat down on the couch so he wouldn't spill his overflowing bowl. Duo seemed to have already forgotten about the events of last night, what Heero now considered their third encounter.

They didn't talk at all while they ate, but Duo did change the radio station back to his favorite one. Heero then realized he hadn't actually reported about the mission, so as soon as he had finished his food he went straight for his laptop. He turned it on and then sat back down on the couch beside Duo.

It didn't take him long to finish up the details of the night, and as soon as he closed the laptop Duo took his chance.

"We have to talk Heero... I really want to know your feelings."

Heero was quiet as he thought about it. He wasn't even quite sure what he felt for Duo, but he just knew it was something he hadn't felt around anyone else. He hesitated to call it love, but there wasn't any other way to really describe it.

"Love," Heero paused for a moment, but then looked over at Duo. "I love you."

Duo bit his lip, "Are you really Heero? Or are you just some evil spy sent here by OZ."

"I'm not a spy."

"I'm just kidding! Geez, learn to take a joke!" Duo set his bowl on the floor and then snatched the laptop off of Heero's lap and set it on the floor too. "I want you to look me in the eye and say that Heero Yuy, because if you're just lying to me... You don't even know what I'm gonna do to you!"

"I love you, Duo Maxwell."

Duo smiled in a way Heero had never seen before. Again this was one of the few times he had seen Duo discard the mask of happy disposition.

"You have to prove it by... You have to prove it by kissing me! And you have to mean it!" Duo tapped his finger right beside his lips to make his point clear.

Heero tried to stand up, but Duo grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. "You're being childish demanding something like that."

Even though he said it, Heero did kiss Duo and thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Now we have to get married!" Duo grinned as they broke from their kiss.

Heero glared at him and then stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

All he could hear from the next room was Duo screaming at him to unlock the door. Heero smirked as he sat down on the bed and listened to Duo's excuses, he would open the door in a while, but for now it was fun just to listen to the frantic pilot in the next room.

----

**Hope everyone enjoyed the fic. **

**Please R & R!**

**Shari Maxwell**


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